


Frostbitten

by the_ren_lover



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, I’m so sorry for this..., Pining, Requited Love, Requited Unrequited Love, Yule Ball (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:49:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26907649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_ren_lover/pseuds/the_ren_lover
Summary: Tim has never been the most confident of students at Hogwarts, despite being one of the smartest, but when Victor Krum asks Hermione to the Yule Ball he finally gets the courage to fight for what he wants.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	1. Chilled

Winter at Hogwarts never ceased to shock Tim with its beauty. The grounds were always coated in a soft layer of white, an unbroken blanket tucking the soft grass near the quidditch pitch to sleep. There it would rest until spring came again, melting away and making room for new life. For now, though, the snow was firmly packed against the ground below and Tim was free to enjoy the pleasant chill in the air. Even the trees in the forbidden forest seemed to lose their ominous aesthetic when their branches dripped with icicles as big as tawny owls. Yes, winter at Hogwarts was one of the most beautiful things Tim had ever seen. The only thing he could think of that was more stunning was Hermione Granger. 

Ah, Hermione. The Gryffindor had stolen Tim’s heart and run away with it a long time ago. Not that it mattered, though, she was destined to end up with someone like Potter. It was easy for Tim to get caught up in memories, passing moments spent with Hermione in the library or out in the courtyard, the feeling of her hand brushing against his-

“Mr. Coleman,” 

Snape’s voice tore through the veil of his thoughts and sent Tim back into reality. Shit, he was in trouble. 

“Would you care to tell me what step six is in making a proper dizziness draught?”

Oh, well that wasn’t too bad. If Tim had been anyone else he would have inevitably stumbled through an incorrect answer and gotten detention for daydreaming in Snape’s class of all places, he would be doomed, but Tim wasn’t anyone else. Tim Coleman was the top scoring Hufflepuff in every class and had been since first year. A question as simple as that was a piece of cake. 

“You add dried fluxweed root. It has to be dried, or the plant will retain its medicinal properties and you’ll have to restart the entire cauldron,” The words flew easily off Tim’s tongue. It was as if he had never been daydreaming at all. If someone with a complexion as pale and dead as Snape’s could turn red, the potions professor would have. Instead, Snape simply scoffed and turned back to his blackboard. 

“Be more prepared next time Mr. Coleman. 5 points from Hufflepuff,”

The resounding groans from Tim’s housemates were enough to deflate the little bubble of pride that had grown in his chest, but Gavin’s suppressed snickers from across the room salvaged it. At least someone appreciated his skill.

The rest of potions dragged on like a bad quidditch match in the pouring rain. Tim’s dizziness draught, of course, was best in the class. It was easy to win back the petty 5 house points he had lost with his potion, but then class was over and he couldn’t rely on his academic merits for kindness. He was once again simply Tim the Hufflepuff; bookworm and halfblood with dreams to reach beyond himself. 

As the swarms of other Hufflepuffs and Slytherins pushed towards the door, desperate to get out of the cold dungeon as fast as possible and back to the warmth of their common rooms, Gavin instead walked right to Tim’s table. His smirk was met with a look of disdain from Tim. 

“So, what were you thinking about before old Severus caught on?” Gavin’s voice was not much more than a whisper over the sound of Tim shoving his books into his bag. It was enough to make Tim’s face flush with color though. “Could it be a certain Gryffindor-”

“Yes, Gavin, now could you act any more suspicious? Just asking, because I’d love for Malfoy to have another reason to hex me in the hallways and ruin my life,” 

Though Tim’s tone was laced with bitterness, he didn’t aim any of it towards Gavin. The two halfbloods were birds of a feather. The Slytherin knew he had taken a step too far, though, and backed off. Then, the two were off towards the staircase and out of the potions classroom with the afternoon free and barely any homework to hinder them. 

The crowd had passed them by a long shot, the sounds of laughter and heavy steps echoing down the stairs towards the pair. That didn’t bother them, though, privacy was appreciated. “So,” Gavin leaned in, “about Granger…”

“There’s nothing to say about her,” Tim replied coolly, “she and I are the same as we’ve always been. I see her around, we say hello, then one of us leaves and I sit there pining in my room all night. It’s the same as the last time, and the time before that, and the time before that…” It would have been hard to miss the way his shoulders hunched as he continued on. 

Gavin wasn’t having any of it. 

“Well maybe it wouldn’t be the same as it’s been if you actually made a move,”

“And how do you expect me to do that? I can’t just walk up to her and ask her out, she’s always around Harry Potter and his little band of groupies, and even if I  _ could _ ask her out she’d never say yes,” 

“You don’t know that. The Yule Ball is coming up soon, that’s a perfect excuse to ask her out without it getting too serious! As long as you keep it mostly friendly when you ask her, it won’t make you look bad if she says no,”

Tim paused. He had been a step ahead of Gavin and his sudden stop nearly made the Slytherin fall backwards but he caught himself on a railing, heaving a breath. They stood there for a moment, the air heavy between them, and then as if nothing ever happened Tim was off once again, climbing the stairs several at a time. It took Gavin a second to get started again on his way up, but then they fell into step as if Tim had never stopped at all. Despite his lack of acknowledgement, though, a hidden spark was fueling Tim to walk a little faster than before. 

“Well, are you going to take my advice? Are you asking Hermione to the Yule ball?” Gavin’s voice was fevered as he pushed himself to match Tim’s pace, “because if you do I want some credit for bringing you eternal happiness,” 

Tim’s response was neither a confirmation nor a denial. 

“I have a lot of things to think about, Gavin, but I think we should meet up at Hogsmeade tomorrow. I could use your help on my transfiguration homework,” 

Tim had been getting top marks in transfiguration since first year; the rest of the help he would need went unspoken. Gavin couldn’t help but chuckle. He would have ribbed the Hufflepuff a bit more, maybe offered a bit of caddish advice, but the two boys had reached the top of the staircase before he had the chance. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?” 

Gavin was quick to respond. “Of course. There’s no one else I’d rather do homework with, especially since you always have all the answers. I’ll see you at Honeydukes,” 

With that, Gavin was gone, off towards the slytherin common room with a boyish zeal to him that Tim couldn’t quite place. Then, Tim was alone again… well, as alone as he possibly could be in the middle of a crowded hallway. All that was left for him to do that night was planning so, for once, he let himself dawdle and take the long way towards the Hufflepuff commons with a smile on his face. 

The hallways were extra crowded that winter, with strapping Durmstrang boys huddled in packs next to benches and Beauxbatons girls flitting about like swarms of delicate billywigs in the places that used to be eternally empty. Tim didn’t mind much, though. It wasn’t as if he was a social butterfly, even when there weren’t hundreds of new intimidating faces in every class, but he still mourned the loss of his favorite hidden reading nooks, now found and overcrowded at every hour of the day. The stone castle walls he’d called home for 4 years became more foreign every day. Despite that, he was filled with a cool sort of joy and confidence, a new pep in his step, and all of it came back to the Yule Ball. 

Now, it wasn’t as if Tim hadn’t thought about asking Hermione to the Yule Ball before Gavin brought it up. Of course he had! Ever since Dumbledore had announced the Triwizard Tournament in the first place the thought had been firmly lodged in the back of Tim’s mind. That being said, it had always seemed somewhat far away; a fantasy reserved for late, lonely nights in front of the common room fireplace. Now, though, with the dance less than a month away it seemed palpable, achievable. There was no particular reason why Gavin’s reminder had shot a spark straight through Tim’s imagination the way it had, but that spark was quickly turning into a sizable flame. That was when he bumped into the back of a 6th year and finally looked up from his feet.

They had carried him in the right direction, but what usually was a pretty empty hallway now was clogged with a pack of people huddled around something Tim couldn’t see through the jam-packed bodies in front of him. With a little pushing, and more than a couple stepped on toes, Tim made it to the front of the pack, and then he froze. 

First, his eyes made purchase on Victor Krum and his whole body tensed a bit at the thought of being seen by that hulking beast, The Durmstrang champion, while not an outright bully like Malfoy, was more than a little bit intimidating and while he himself might not go out of his way to terrorize other students that didn’t mean that his cronies followed the same mentality. Krum’s fur-clad back was to Tim, but it wasn’t hard to tell that he was asking some lucky girl to the Yule Ball from the way the crowd ooh-ed and ah-ed as his every word. Then, when he got down on one knee in a mock proposal, Tim felt like someone had thrown him down a flight of stairs. 

There, standing just a few feet away with teary eyes, was Hermione. Worse, she was smiling. Really, truly smiling; the kind of smile Tim knew was reserved for the happiest moments in her life. It was like he had been doused with a bucket of water. The happy little flame that had been warming the deepest parts of his heart was gone, replaced with an abject horror and numbness that spread to the deepest depths of his being. If a dementor had floated by, Tim could’ve sworn that he had no soul left to be sucked out, but then to make things worse Hermione looked up and met his gaze.

Tim’s blood ran cold. His number one priority became to get out of there as fast as he possibly could manage. So, without further ado, he pulled his eyes away from the scene and shoved his way back out of the crowd. The Hufflepuff common room could wait, he needed a place to be alone before facing the curious gazes of all his fellow housemates. A place to process the horror of knowing that Hermione would be going to the Yule ball with none other than Victor Krum, the heartthrob that attracted girls like moths to a flame. It was like he never had a chance in the first place. 

The astronomy tower was, to put it in plain terms, Tim’s sanctuary within a sanctuary. He had been given express permission by Trelawney to use it for his astrology based divination project in third year, but had continued to use it whenever the world became too much to handle. It was a place where he could let his guard down, be weak without showing anyone his weakness, and it was the first place his mind carried him after the Krum debacle. He stayed there for hours, sorting through thoughts and feelings so huge they should have crushed him, and then when the moon peered softly down at him through the foggy clouds above he wandered back to his common room, ignoring the puzzled look from the head boy as he dragged his feet up the stairs and dropped into bed like a dead weight.

He dreamed of Hermione that night. She was dressed up in cool summer clothes and they were both at Disneyland. It was blatantly non-magical, with no spells making an appearance in the fantasy, but that didn’t make it any less real to Tim. She seemed so at ease there in the muggle world, a world Tim had grown up familiar with. As the firework show began she was there in front of the castle, leaning in close to him and then, right as her fingers laced into his… his eyes snapped open. The dissapointment of reality was almost enough to make him forget about his Hogsmeade plans, but only almost. In no time he was dressed warmly, and well on his way to meeting Gavin. 


	2. Frigid

Ever since third year, on their first trip to Hogsmeade, Gavin and Tim had started every Saturday morning off with a trip to Honeydukes. Often they’d find themselves down at The Hog’s Head or The Three Broomsticks before the day was done, sometimes they’d even spend time in the small hollow near the shrieking shack if they felt the need to be alone, but no matter what every visit started with a trip to Honeydukes and a few too many sickles spent on the sweet treats that awaited. For the first time, though, on that chilly walk from the train station to the warm building that awaited, Tim didn’t feel in the mood for candy. 

Safe from the biting cold air at last, it didn’t take long for him to pass the threshold of the confectionary and find Gavin. He was tucked away in their usual corner, stuck between buying a few lengths of ever-chew taffy or a more traditional chocolate frog. The sight of something so painfully normal made Tim want to vomit even more than he already had. 

It was as if Gavin could sense the self-loathing and rolling off the Hufflepuff in waves, because without being prompted he quickly turned around and threw Tim a soft look. All he could manage to say was, “you look like hell,” 

Tim barely grunted in response, hands in his pockets as he perused the wall for anything that looked appetizing. Nothing caught his eye. 

Gavin kept pushing. In less than a moment’s time he had turned his full attention to Tim. “Alright, what’s wrong? Did you convince yourself that you shouldn’t ask Hermione out, because you’re serio-”

“Krum asked her,” Tim’s answer was so nonchalant that Gavin almost missed it’s significance.

His voice was low as he worked it out. “Wait, Krum? Like Victor Krum? The brick wall seventh year from Durmstrang? You’ve gotta be kidding me…” 

The Hufflepuff shook his head no, a soft sigh escaping his lips. “I mean, she deserves the best Gavin. If she could go to the Yule Ball with someone like Krum, a champion seventh year who looks like some sort of greek statue, why would she ever have settled for me? Face it, I never had a chance, and maybe that’s for the best. She’d be better off with Krum or Potter anyways,” 

“If you say so Tim, but in my opinion I think she’d have a better time at the dance with you than any of those assholes,” 

There wasn’t a single positive response that Tim could formulate, so he simply didn’t respond, instead choosing to busy himself with counting each sugar quill on the display to his right. He was able to count 7 green, 4 red and 9 blue before Gavin gripped his shoulder from behind, snapping him out of his haze. 

“I’m sorry man, I don’t know what else to say… Maybe you could ask her out next year once Krum is long gone and all these Durmstrang idiots are back in Russia,” 

“I just want to forget about it, okay Gavin? It won’t help me if I keep thinking about it. Let’s just move on,” 

So they did move on, at least externally. The pair acted unbothered as they weaved through the sweet-smelling, honey-colored shelves filling their hands with as many sweet things as they could pay for and then, after paying and filling their pockets, they made their way out onto the main street with few words passed between them. Deep down, though, they were both still stuck on the Yule Ball conundrum. Tim was more outwardly collected, with a neutral expression in his eyes and a liar’s smile on his lips, but Gavin let his bafflement show in little ways, like the quirk in his eyebrows and the way he would pause sometimes mid-step as if he had just had the most brilliant epiphany. Needless to say, the conversation was not forgotten as quickly as either boy wanted it to be. 

It picked up again when the two passed Gladrag’s Wizardwear. They didn’t usually frequent the shop. It was the kind of place that didn’t see very many student visitors unless they had ripped their robes or stained their uniform in some rare accident. This year, though, the shop was bustling with life seeing as they were the only place that could order in dress robes on the entire Hogwarts campus. The kids that didn’t bring a pair or couldn’t rely on their parents to send one, of which there were many, found solace in the fact that there was a shop nearby that would make sure they had something decent to wear to the Yule Ball. 

Tim and Gavin had no need for dress robes, theirs had come in the mail months earlier, but as they walked past the building and pushed through the crowd of people gathering at the store’s entrance Tim saw something… strange. Well, not strange, but eye catching enough to give reason for pause. There in the window, sitting on a small velvet bust, was the most gorgeous piece of jewelry he had ever seen. 

It was a necklace, a delicate thing made of some sort of copper-toned metal. The design was pretty on its own, with a collar made of small rounded clusters of stones surrounding a larger yet dainty starburst that would rest right at the dip in the wearer’s throat, but what made it so stunning were the gems inlaid within the design. They were the most eye-catching blue. He assumed at a glance that they must be sapphires, no other stones had the same blue tone and clarity to his knowledge, but when he approached the window door a closer look he noticed the placard advertised some of the lighter stones as blue toned diamonds. He would have imagined blue diamonds like they were portrayed in Titanic; massive and gaudy and endlessly expensive. In reality, though, they were like tiny drops of winter’s first frost immortalized forever in crystal.

Without his consent Tim’s mind turned to Hermione. Did she wear necklaces? He remembered she had, once, worn a small stone on a chain during first year, a gift from Luna, so it wasn’t completely out of the question that she might wear something like the necklace in the window. Looking at the price it wasn’t even that expensive. If he dipped into his savings and spent a little less on candy for the rest of the year, maybe… 

As if he could read Tim’s mind, Gavin approached from behind with a mischievous smirk on his face. “So, Tim, are you… reconsidering your earlier approach to the Yule Ball situation?”

Well, he hadn’t even thought of it like that. Maybe if he bought the necklace, he could give it to her and ask. It could be a sort of token to show his affections. In seconds he was formulating a plan in his head. He could catch her in a moment alone, sweep her off her feet with a declaration of how much happier she would be with him than Krum, and offer her the necklace: how could she refuse?

He wasn’t about to show his cards off early, so he responded, “maybe,” 

That was enough for Gavin to know. Without any ado Tim bought the necklace and shoved it into his bag for later, being sure not to scuff the delicate velvet surface of it’s box. They spent the rest of their time at Hogsmeade unhindered. The problems started the next day when Tim attempted to put his plans into motion. 

On Sundays it wasn’t unusual for Hermione to spend most of the afternoon in the library, and it also wasn’t unusual for Tim to join her while studying. For years that had been the extent of their friendship, shared moments of silence in the library as they researched potions or transfiguration. His original plan was to arrive at the library a bit later than usual- because Hermione always seemed to arrive a little later than he did -and pop the question in the middle of their studying. Unfortunately, when Tim made his entrance into the library, Hermione was not at her usual table. In fact Hermione wasn’t there at all. So, Tim waited. He waited through lunch time, and waited while a group of Slytherin first years made a last ditch attempt to study for their defense against the dark arts essays, and waited all the way up until the sun started to set across the horizon. Though disappointed, he simply accepted the loss as a stroke of bad luck and headed back to the common room for sleep with the necklace weighing heavier in his bag than it had before. 

The stroke of bad luck continued into Wednesday when he made his second attempt at asking Hermione to the Yule Ball. In the wintertime it was tradition that though official quidditch matches were stalled for the season, the teams would go out into the courtyard and have mock matches in the snow and ice. Though it was far from a magical experience and something far closer to a game of muggle football than any pureblood would like to admit, Tim still felt it was only right for him to go out and commentate the sport. That afternoon, Gryffindor was playing Slytherin. 

Tim did his best to focus on the sport, calling out each pass and foul, but it was hard with Hermione sitting just a few feet away. What made it even more difficult was the fact that she was surrounded by other girls who were dying to know all about her plans with Krum. 

During the span of the game, Tim learned every detail of Hermione’s dress, how kind Krum had been since the previous Friday, exactly how she’d do her hair, and, most painfully, how excited she was to be going with a champion. Even once the match was finished and he had finished commentating, Tim didn’t consider asking Hermione. The timing was all wrong and there were too many people around. Yet again he returned to his common room a little colder than before. The once weightless necklace now seemed to weigh tons.

The final straw came on Friday during dinner in the Great Hall. Tim hadn’t intended to ask her there. If she said no the refusal would be far too public, his pride would never recover. He had been eating a spoonful of mashed potatoes when, from behind him, he overheard Malfoy gossiping as he passed by. Usually he would have paid it no mind, but something about the conversation caught his attention.

“I swear, Granger has some nerve. This is the third time she’s skipped out on dinner this week. Does she think she’s too good to eat with the rest of us?” 

Hermione was skipping meals? Without acting suspicious, Tim took a deep breath and focused on Draco’s voice. 

“Stupid moodblood, acting all high and mighty ever since Krum asked her to the Yule Ball. Little does she know, Krum probably just wants an easy shag. You know Goyle, I bet that’s where she is now! Having a snog with Krum,” 

At that, Tim had heard enough. In a moment of anger and jealousy and embarrassment, he stood quickly from the Hufflepuff table and, with as much power as he could muster, grabbed Draco’s collar.

“Say one more thing about Hermione, I dare you,” Tim hissed through gritted teeth. Some part of him was very satisfied with the way Draco’s eyes widened in fear. It was rare for someone to stun the pureblood out of words, but the ferocity burning in Tim’s eyes was enough to keep him silent. “Now excuse me, jackass, I have somewhere to be,”

With that, Tim released Draco’s collar and stormed out of the great hall as the rest of the student body sat in disbelief. They could have imagined a Gryffindor starting a fight like that but a Hufflepuff? As the whispers began, Tim followed his familiar path to the astronomy tower. He had a lot to think about. 


	3. Thawed

In all the times that he had fled to the astronomy tower, never once had Tim encountered someone else using the space. He knew it was available to any student who might need it but very few people cared for the finer aspects of reading the stars and the planets. Even young couples desperate for a corner to snog in were more likely to fall into the nearest broom closet than ascend the ridiculously rickety spiral staircase up to Tim’s sanctuary. All of that information combined made it hard for Tim to process the small figure hunched over on the plush armchair he had claimed for himself the year before. It was like his brain had short circuited and left him defenseless in the face of his greatest fear. 

Unfortunately, the person heard his approach- damn squeaky boards -and snapped up to attention, revealing milky brown eyes rimmed red with tears. Tim’s luck truly was the worst. Why did it have to be Hermione who found his spot? 

Every sensible nerve in his entire body told him to turn around, to race back to the Hufflepuff common room and never come back to the astronomy tower for the rest of his years at Hogwarts, but then Hermione spoke in her soft, rough voice and he couldn’t bring himself to run away.

“Sorry,” she whispered, wiping at her eyes furiously, “I didn’t realize anybody would be up here, though I’m guessing you thought the same thing…” 

Tim had to resist the urge to laugh. “No need to be sorry. I’ve been coming up here when I’m upset since October last year. I guess it was about time someone else started to use the spot,” 

She smiled up at him then, all straight teeth and soft dimples. The kind of smile Tim thought would be reserved for those closest to her. That smile fed the hidden roots of Tim’s pride, the ones that had been buried underneath mounds of frosty bitterness in the past week, and gave way for a new emotion; hope. So, with his newly cultivated hope, Tim smiled back and moved to sit in the larger armchair next to his usual one. It wasn’t as comfortable as the smaller chair, with its synthetic lining and hardy wooden frame, but it was a sacrifice he was more than willing to make at the moment. He leaned into the vinyl and gazed up at the starry sky with a childlike wonder, relishing in the silence before Hermione spoke up once again.

She had stopped crying and was looking at Tim with a look of deep concentration. “You’re Tim, right?” she asked, “Tim Coleman,” When he nodded, she continued, “You’re the one who won the Herbology essay competition with the Daily Prophet last summer. I read it and I completely understand why you won, I had never thought about how harmful it could be to remove Venomous Tentacula from an ecosystem, even if it can be dangerous to wizards that come upon it,” 

When Hermione paused once again, Tim froze. She read his essay. Not only had she read it, but she thought it was  _ good _ . Usually Tim’s brilliance did nothing for him when it came to making friends but with Hermione it was everything. She had barely spoken to him in the four years they had gone to school together and yet she already liked him and his company based on an  _ essay _ . It took every ounce of his self respect not to launch into a lecture on the subject. Instead, he kept the conversation light. 

“Well let's not forget all  _ your _ achievements, Hermione. You’re the most brilliant witch at this school. If you had entered the competition I’m sure you would’ve won by a landslide,” 

If he didn’t know better, Tim would’ve sworn Hermione blushed. 

With a quick turn of her head, she looked away from Tim and out the window towards the twinkling heavens above and the winter wonderland below still smiling that same stunning smile. “Thank you Tim, that means a lot,” 

The conversation stalled then, but not in an awkward way. it was the kind of peaceable silence you would find between an old married couple as they read and darned socks before bed. No words were spoken, but they didn’t need to be. All that mattered was that they were together, and that was enough. Well, that is until Tim broke the silence with the question that had been eating at him all week.

“So, I saw that Krum asked you to the Yule Ball,” He said with as much nonchalance as he could feign, “how has that been?”

It was like the entire energy of the room changed. Hermione’s smile fell and as she took a deep breath her hands started to shake. 

“It’s been great! I mean, why wouldn’t it be? He’s Durmstrang’s champion, every girl should want to go with him…” 

“Should?” 

Caught in her lie, Hermione froze and in no time at all tears were once again rolling down her cheeks in thin streams. Tim made an effort to reach over to her but she brushed him off gently, as if to say it wasn’t his fault. With a sigh, she pulled her knees up to her chest. “I don’t want to be rude, but Krum and I don’t actually mesh very well. He’s nice, but there are other people that I’d rather spend time with. When he asked me it just felt… too public to say no,”

“Is that why you came up here? Because you don’t want to go to the Yule Ball with Krum?” 

That elicited a dark laugh from the Gryffindor. “No, I came here because a certain friend of mine  _ assumed _ that I wouldn’t be able to get a date to that dance and that I could go with him by default,” 

In a blaze of protective rage Tim almost rose from his chair to track down whoever had the guts to make Hermione cry, but when he looked at her face he knew it wouldn’t help. Instead he schooled his expression and used his deductive skills to guess who would be dumb enough to say that who didn’t currently have a date. 

“Weasley?”

All Hermione could do was nod.

“First of all, he didn’t mean it as an insult. Ron might not be the ripest mandrake in the field, but I know he cares about you. Secondly, don’t listen to a word he says! In this week alone I’ve seen at least 5 other people upset they didn’t get to you first!”

Ignoring the blatant  _ other _ that included Tim with the mourners, Hermione smiled again. “Really?”

“Absolutely,” 

The silence came back then, just as pleasant as before, and Tim knew he had a choice. On one hand, he could make his move. The timing was admittedly perfect. If he just whipped out the necklace and asked her now she was in a vulnerable enough position that she might just say yes to get out of going with Krum. On the other hand, though, would that be right? Did he really want the beginning of his potential relationship with Hermione to be built on a moment of weakness? 

The answer, however painful it may be, was obvious. He had to let it go. The last thing Tim wanted to do was hurt Hermione more than she already had been. Even if that meant he had lost his only chance to ask her to the Yule Ball, it was worth it. Anything for her. He reached into his bag avoiding his books and the plush box in its innermost pocket and pulled out a Mars bar. 

Hermione immediately perked up. “Is that…”

“A Mars bar? Yeah. My mom sends me care packages every month filled with muggle stuff. Do you want one? I have more,” 

She nodded excitedly, accepting the foil wrapped chocolate with a soft  _ thank you _ . It was cute to see her open it with careful, calculating fingers. “I haven’t had one of these in years! My parents have made a big effort to embrace the magical world, but that means missing out on the classics sometimes,” 

“Well, if you’re ever in the mood for another one I’ve got a whole stash in the Hufflepuff common room. Just knock on the right barrels and ask for me,” 

“I just might have to,”

The thought made Tim’s heart race. He could imagine a sleepy Hermione, face lit up by the torches that always burned right outside the entrance to the kitchens as she waited outside the entrance to his common room. Maybe if she was tired enough, too tired to trek all the way back up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room, she would spend the night curled up on the communal sofa near the fireplace. They could sit and read all night, maybe play some music and eat muggle candy. He’d seen other students do it before so he knew the heads of the house didn’t care, but could something like that really happen? It was best not to get his hopes up.

For an hour they sat up in the Astronomy tower swapping stories of potions gone wrong and the difficulties of returning to the muggle world over the summer. Sitting with Hermione was like finally being known for the first time. Of course Gavin knew him, but there was something different about the way Tim’s stories resonated with Hermione’s past. When the clock struck 11, neither of them wanted to leave. 

It was Hermione that made the first move, glancing up at the chiming clock and sighing. “I guess we should probably get back to where we came from, huh?” There was a prominent disappointment in her voice that made Tim feel almost bold.

“Hermione,” his voice was pleading as he gently held her wrist, keeping her from standing up and walking back out of his life, “I need to give you something,” The look in her eyes was somewhere between shock, joy, and confusion as Tim reached into his bag and pulled out the velvet box that had been weighing on his mind from the moment he had purchased it’s contents at Hogsmeade. “I know you don’t know me very well, but I’ve admired you for a really long time. You’re brilliant, smarter than anybody else I know, and you’re funny, and honest, and pretty… what I’m trying to say is I know I’m not much to look at, and you don’t know me, but  _ I  _ want to know  _ you _ ,” With that, he offered the gift up to her and watched, mute, as she admired the necklace. Just as he had initially suspected, the sapphires complimented her brown eyes perfectly in the soft starlight. He could only wonder if it would look the same under the enchanted lights on the night of the Yule Ball.

When Hermione stood from her chair Tim could see the glint of more unspilled tears in her eyes but before he could truly process her reaction, she was leaning down and then- oh? Oh! Her lips were as soft as they’d been in his dream, yet unyielding as she pulled him into the kiss. It was a slow thing, all rounded cheeks and trembling hands, but that didn’t mean there was no passion. Like amortentia in a cauldron, it boiled low and hot until Hermione pulled away for air. 

“That was-” Tim attempted to speak but there were no words, even in his considerable vocabulary, to describe what he was feeling. Was it unexpected? Wonderful? Breathtaking? The best moment so far of his entire life? There was no word that contained all of those sentiments, so he said nothing at all. Turns out he didn’t need to because Hermione beat him to it. 

“...something. That was something,” 

He couldn’t help but agree. 

“Tim, I think there’s something you should ask me,” she teased. 

Tim was so starstruck that he had almost forgotten, but only almost. 

“Hermione, would you do me the absolute honor of going to the Yule Ball with me?”

“How could I refuse?”

As their lips met again, it began to snow. 

Though both of the students intended to return to their respective commonrooms for the night, they found it hard to leave each other. Instead, they simply curled up on their armchairs and talked until the sun began its slow ascent into the sky; creeping up the horizon and lighting up the icy world outside in a kaleidoscope of colors reflecting through the ice. 

“So, what are you going to tell Krum? Or your friends for that matter,” Tim yawned, wiping the sleep from his eyes as Hermione shrugged her cardigan back onto her shoulders. 

“I’ll just tell them the person I wanted to go with originally asked me,” 

Tim gawked. “Me?” 

“Yes you!” Hermione giggled, “Why do you think I sit next to you every time I see you in the library? And even though I care about Harry, he’s one of my best friends and I definitely go to his games to support him, I wouldn’t sit so close to the teacher’s box at quidditch matches if I didn’t want to see the look on your face while you commentated. Not to mention, has anybody ever told you how attractive you are? I’m sure you know about the Hufflepuff groupies that fawn over you every chance they get,” 

“Sure, whatever you say Hermione, but I’m not taking them to the Yule Ball, am I?” 

No response was needed. As the precious rays of dawn finally slipped through the windows, lighting the room with a million beams of orange and pink, Tim and Hermione made their way down the precarious spiral staircase back to their lives. The trees in the forbidden forest were still dripping with their deadly yet beautiful icicles, and the snow by the quidditch pitch was still untouched and getting thicker by the minutes, but inside the cold world surrounding Hogwarts Tim’s heart was a burning fire. With the warmth he felt, emanating from every part of his soul as he gripped Hermione’s hand tightly, he doubted he’d ever be cold again. 

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for this... especially to Tim and Gavin, but really to anybody who reads this whole thing. I love you all, remember you asked for this, I’m gonna go crawl in a hole and die now.


End file.
